PR has leaders than workers

Visakhapatnam Nov. 13: Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam has too many leaders and too few workers. But none of these leaders have any official positions and so they have to jostle to gain the attention of the band of brothers on top.
At any given street corner, one can see hoardings and banners with pictures of self-styled leaders of the party. But a Praja Rajyam party worker is a rare sight. Meetings of the party are mostly attended by Chiranjeevi’s fans. But they cannot in the real sense be considered party workers. The preponderance of leaders over workers is leading to many problems in the Praja Rajyam. It is also creating worries for top leaders who quit the Telugu Desam and joined Praja Rajyam with many hopes. This was in evidence last month at a meeting of North Andhra leaders held in a college by Chiranjeevi’s brother Nagababu.

The hall was packed with fans of Nagababu and a host of self-styled leaders. Except for the former Chodavaram MLA, Mr Ganta Srinivasa Rao, no other leader who came in from other parties was given any importance in the meeting. The former MLA, Mr P.G.V.R. Naidu, who had huge following in the TD in Gajuwaka and Pendurthy, has now been reduced to secondary status in the Praja Rajyam. Similarly, the former MLA, Mr S.A. Rehman, is also being given no importance. Telugu Desam sources said the second-rung leaders who left the party to join the Praja Rajyam had become sadder after the success of Yuva Garjana held at Guntur. “Our party has discipline and proper hierarchy which is absent in the Praja Rajyam,” said a senior TD leader.